Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A heavily populated urban area characterized by substandard housing and squalor.
- intransitive verb To visit impoverished areas or squalid locales, especially out of curiosity or for amusement.
- idiom (slum it) To endure conditions or accommodations that are worse than what one is accustomed to.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In metallurgy, same as
slime , 3: chiefly in the plural. - noun A dirty back street of a city, especially such a street inhabited by a squalid and criminal population; a low and dangerous neighborhood: chiefly in the plural: as, the slums of Whitechapel and Westminster in London.
- To keep to back streets.
- To visit the slums of a city, often from mere curiosity or as a diversion.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A foul back street of a city, especially one filled with a poor, dirty, degraded, and often vicious population; any low neighborhood or dark retreat; -- usually in the plural.
- noun (Mining) Same as
Slimes . - intransitive verb colloq. To visit or frequent slums, esp. out of curiosity, or for purposes of study, etc. Also called
go slumming .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
dilapidated neighborhood where many people live in a state ofpoverty . - verb To visit a
neighborhood of astatus below one's own. - verb To associate with people or engage in activities with a status below one's own.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb spend time at a lower socio-economic level than one's own, motivated by curiosity or desire for adventure; usage considered condescending and insensitive
- noun a district of a city marked by poverty and inferior living conditions
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In 2005, the Mugabe government launched what it called a slum clearance scheme that bulldozed major shanty towns, brutally displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
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In 2005, the Mugabe government launched what it called a slum clearance scheme, that bulldozed major shantytowns, brutally displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
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Built for 500,000 people originally, Brasilia soon outgrew its urban plan, housing residents in slum-like satellite cities.
J. Michael Welton: Toward an Instant City J. Michael Welton 2010
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The big expensive house where the rich live, surrounded by walls, with people living in slum-like conditions outside those walls.
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Built for 500,000 people originally, Brasilia soon outgrew its urban plan, housing residents in slum-like satellite cities.
J. Michael Welton: Toward an Instant City J. Michael Welton 2010
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Built for 500,000 people originally, Brasilia soon outgrew its urban plan, housing residents in slum-like satellite cities.
J. Michael Welton: Toward an Instant City J. Michael Welton 2010
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On the other hand, a good portion of the population seems to live in slum-like conditions and will for the foreseeable future.
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Prince Charles: Dharavi slum is a model for sustainable living
Boing Boing 2009
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On the other hand, a good portion of the population seems to live in slum-like conditions and will for the foreseeable future.
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Built for 500,000 people originally, Brasilia soon outgrew its urban plan, housing residents in slum-like satellite cities.
J. Michael Welton: Toward an Instant City J. Michael Welton 2010
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